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Subungual HemorrhagesA Primary Manifestation of Diabetes Mellitus
Pedro Iglesias, MD;
Olga Olmos, MD;
Julia Sastre, MD;
Diez Juan-Jose, MD;
Fernandez Maria-Luisa, MD;
Jesus Borbujo, MD
Arch Fam Med. 1996;5(3):169-171.
Abstract
Subungual hemorrhages may be observed in a variety of systemic diseases and in some otherwise healthy persons. We describe three male patients who were referred because of toenail hemorrhages. Analytical investigations showed hyperglycemia in all the patients. Toenail bilateral hemorrhages were the first manifestation of previously undiagnosed type II diabetes mellitus in all cases. Ophthalmologic examination showed signs of background diabetic retinopathy in all three patients. The existence of retinopathy suggests that subungual hemorrhages might be due to microvascular involvement and could herald the presence of diabetes mellitus.
Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Endocrinology (Drs Iglesias, Sastre, and Diez) and Dermatology (Drs Fernandez and Borbujo), Centro de Salud Juncal, Torrejon de Ardoz (Dr Olmos), Hospital La Paz, Madrid, Spain.
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